Ryan Bridge: A new political battlefront's opening up on homelessness

Nobody wants to see streets dotted with tents like San Francisco or downtown LA.

This much-hyped government report to Tama Potaka gives a few insights, but doesn't really nail the problem.

There are more people living rough, but we can't say for sure how many more, and even if we could, we can't say how statistically significant the change might be.

David Farrar: 1,000 fewer kids in motels

Tama Potaka released:

The Government’s plan to end the large-scale use of emergency housing is working, with new figures showing a 32 per cent reduction in the number of households living in motels, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says.

“Emergency housing is one of the biggest public policy failures we’ve ever seen in New Zealand, growing from a few families using it for brief periods into a situation where thousands of tamariki were growing up in motels,” Mr Potaka says.

John MacDonald: Landlords aren't the emergency housing solution

The Government says it wants to see less people living in emergency accommodation in motels. My response to that: who doesn’t?

It also says it might pay landlords to take on tenants currently living in motels. My response to that: you’re dreaming.

Lindsay Mitchell: Is real change on the cards?

Sometimes the gems are buried. My ears pricked up when the following statement was reported on a news programme playing in the background:

Reynold Macpherson: Why Scepticism Greets the Rotorua Housing Accord

 

Introduction

The content of the Rotorua Housing Accord prepared for signing on 9 December is different than the uncritical reports published at various news outlets. It suggests that the articles were based on the press releases provided by the Ministers and our Mayor and were intended to spin the intended outcomes of the Accord, rather than clarify the substance and implications of the Accord. When the limitations of the Accord are added to the legacy of distrust created by the previous Council, it is understandable why residents and ratepayers remain sceptical. 

Lindsay Mitchell: The unprecedented rush to emergency housing

The following graph shows the number of MSD clients living in emergency housing up to 2021:

Bryce Edwards: Labour’s motel housing shame

The Labour Government has now spent over $1.2bn on housing people in motels and emergency facilities. This is an indictment on a government that refuses to build enough state houses for vulnerable people who are the biggest victims of the housing crisis. But what’s more, the staggering $1m spent each day on emergency housing has also been a social disaster, the scale of which is becoming too apparent for the Government to ignore.